NewMotion, a Shell group company specialising in smart EV charging solutions is the first charge station operator to be licenced to provide grid balancing services. Tennet, a Dutch grid company has licenced them to keep grid frequency at 50 Hz balancing services. This feature will be enabled on NewMotion’s existing smart charger install base, making it available to thousands of customers.
Tennet will get grid balancing services from NewMotion for frequency containment reserves (FCR). FCR is an essential tool for mitigating major power outages. It also enables parties to use their reserves in keeping the European grid balanced at 50Hz and preventing blackouts. Due to its strict regulations, few businesses have the appropriate technology to provide FCR.
NewMotion plans to connect 4,000 EVs to the grid and provide about 1 MW for grid balancing in this manner. Tennet’s charging points will reduce their rate when the grid frequency is too low and increase when it is too high. NewMotion’s network of smart chargers can adapt to grid frequency changes in seconds.
The frequency containment reserve service will be comparable to the energy consumption of 1,000 households. Tennet has performed studies to assess the potential efficacy of smart charging EVs – and even household internet-of-things devices – in providing grid services, as the growing amount of renewables projects strains its Dutch energy networks.